Copper Liquor, Inc., Robert Earl Basham, Jr., or the Estate of Harold Letcher, Deceased, Cross-Appellant v. Adolph Coors Company, Cross-Appellee

684 F.2d 1087, 34 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 1406, 1982 U.S. App. LEXIS 16406
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
DecidedAugust 23, 1982
Docket81-1358
StatusPublished
Cited by168 cases

This text of 684 F.2d 1087 (Copper Liquor, Inc., Robert Earl Basham, Jr., or the Estate of Harold Letcher, Deceased, Cross-Appellant v. Adolph Coors Company, Cross-Appellee) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Copper Liquor, Inc., Robert Earl Basham, Jr., or the Estate of Harold Letcher, Deceased, Cross-Appellant v. Adolph Coors Company, Cross-Appellee, 684 F.2d 1087, 34 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 1406, 1982 U.S. App. LEXIS 16406 (5th Cir. 1982).

Opinion

ALVIN B. RUBIN, Circuit Judge:

To the victor in an antitrust suit belongs the “cost of suit, including a reasonable attorney’s fee.” 1 In this, the third appearance of this case before our court, we evaluate the reasonableness of costs and attorneys’ fees awarded by the district judge on remand from, and according to the specific directions of, this court in an earlier appeal.

We find that the district court correctly construed and applied the instructions we gave in remanding the case, and that the amount allowed as attorneys’ fees is supported by the record. We, therefore, affirm it. We find that, in arriving at this sum, the district judge acted within his discretion when he reduced the lodestar rate by 25%. However, we find no basis for a similar reduction in costs and expenses. Finally, we remand for a determination of the amounts allowable as reimbursement for costs and expenses because this amount was based on estimates and was not properly itemized or verified.

I.

Harold Letcher 2 brought this antitrust action in 1970 against Adolph Coors Company (“Coors”) to recover damages that allegedly resulted when a Coors distributor refused to sell Coors beer to Letcher’s store. In 1973, a jury found Coors liable to Letch-er and awarded him $101,011 in damages. The district judge trebled the damage award to $303,033 and awarded attorneys’ fees of $75,000. In the first appeal to this court, we upheld the finding of liability under the antitrust laws, but remanded the case for further proceedings to determine whether the antitrust violation caused Letcher any injury, and, if so, the amount of that damage. We also vacated the award of attorneys’ fees and directed that if, on remand, injury and damages were awarded, the district court should also award reasonable attorneys’ fees. 3

At the second trial, the jury found that Letcher was injured by Coors’s antitrust violation and awarded $15,000 in damages. The district judge held a hearing on the appropriate amount of attorneys’ fees and on July 31, 1978, subsequent to that hearing, entered judgment against Coors for trebled damages of $45,000 and attorneys’ fees of $45,000. On a second appeal, 4 the damage award was affirmed, but we determined that the “attorneys’ fee award was so low in this case as to constitute an abuse of discretion,” 5 and remanded the case for further proceedings relating to attorneys’ fees.

Considering the case for the third time, the district judge entered an order on December 29, 1980, relating to attorneys’ fees and costs prior to the time of the appeal in Copper Liquor II. The judge adopted the findings of fact made in his July 31, 1978, order concerning attorneys’ fees and revised only his conclusions of law. He determined that the appropriate award for attorneys’ fees and costs for the period up to July 31, 1978, was $244,687.50. 6 In March 1981, the *1092 district judge held a hearing to determine the appropriate amount of attorneys’ fees and costs for work after July 31, 1978, relating to the appeal in Copper Liquor II and time spent thereafter on remand. The judge entered an order for attorneys’ fees and costs during this period of $21,778.93, 7 making the total award of fees and costs $266,466.43. Both parties promptly appealed, Coors seeking a reduction in the amount awarded and Letcher seeking an increase.

I. ATTORNEYS’ FEES

Judge Wisdom’s thoughtful opinion in Copper Liquor II summarized the appropriate procedure for determining a reasonable attorneys’ fee in the Fifth Circuit. We borrow from and condense that discussion here.

Johnson v. Georgia Highway Express, Inc., 488 F.2d 714, 717-19 (5th Cir. 1974), listed twelve factors that must be considered by a district court in this circuit in awarding a statutorily authorized attorneys’ fee:

(1) The time and labor required, (2) the novelty and difficulty of the questions, (3) the skill requisite to perform the legal service properly, (4) the preclusion of other employment by the attorney due to acceptance of the case, (5) the customary fee [for similar work in the community], (6) whether the fee is fixed or contingent, (7) time limitations imposed by the client or the circumstances, (8) the amount involved and the results obtained, (9) the experience, reputation, and ability of the attorneys, (10) the “undesirability” of the case, (11) the nature and length of the professional relationship with the client, and (12) awards in similar cases.

The district judge is required to “ ‘explain the findings and reasons upon which the award is based, including an indication of how each of the twelve factors in Johnson affected his decision.’ ” Copper Liquor II, 624 F.2d at 581 (quoting Matter of First Colonial Corp. of America, 544 F.2d 1291, 1299-1300 (5th Cir. 1977)). In Copper Liquor II, we stated that, although the “district court’s findings of fact are well developed[,] the order ... does not articulate the reasons for awarding attorneys’ fees of $45,000.” Id. at 582.

Of the twelve Johnson factors, Judge Wisdom stated that recent Fifth Circuit decisions suggested that four of the factors deserve “special heed”: “(1) the time and labor involved, (5) the customary fee, (8) the amount involved and the results obtained, and (9) the experience, reputation, and ability of counsel.” Id. at 583. These factors should be considered in the following framework:

(1) Ascertain the nature and extent of the services supplied by the attorney;

(2) Value the services according to the customary fee and quality of the legal work; and

(3) Adjust the compensation on the basis of the other Johnson factors that may be of significance in the particular case.

Id. (relying on First Colonial, 544 F.2d at 1299-1300). Johnson, thus interpreted, adopts a standard much like the lodestar method of the Second, 8 Third, 9 and District *1093 of Columbia 10 Circuits. 11 The “lodestar” is equal to the number of hours reasonably expended multiplied by the prevailing hourly rate in the community for similar work. The lodestar is then adjusted to reflect other factors such as the contingent nature of the suit and the quality of representation. 12

In Copper Liquor II,

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684 F.2d 1087, 34 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 1406, 1982 U.S. App. LEXIS 16406, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/copper-liquor-inc-robert-earl-basham-jr-or-the-estate-of-harold-ca5-1982.